Decapitated journalist found in eastern Mexico

Federal police in Mexico.

(Photo illustration).

-

The decapitated body of a journalist from the

newspaper

in Veracruz was found on Wednesday in an area of ​​great violence in the eastern Mexican state, police and freedom of expression organizations reported.

“I condemn the cowardly murder of journalist Julio Valdivia (...).

In coordination with the state attorney general's office, we will use all resources to find those responsible, ”Security Secretary and Police Chief Hugo Gutiérrez said in a statement.

Fifth Mexican journalist killed in 2020

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has called on the authorities to investigate the link between the 41-year-old journalist's crime and his professional activities.

Julio Valdivia is the fifth journalist killed in Mexico in 2020, according to RSF.

"That all avenues of investigation be exhausted, especially those that have to do with his journalistic work because he worked in an area marked by violence," Balbina Flores, RSF representative in Mexico, told AFP.

The body of the journalist, as well as a motorcycle belonging to him, were found on a railway line in a mountainous area of ​​the municipality of Tezonapa, according to information published by

An investigation opened "to find out if the crime was related to his profession"

Julio Valdivia "worked in a complicated area where there are criminal groups, we must investigate to find out if he had reported something that bothered these criminal groups, this is a fundamental line," Ana told AFP Laura Pérez, President of the Commission for the Protection of Journalists in Veracruz.

According to

Twitter account

, the journalist on Tuesday covered a clash between police and criminal suspects in the municipality of Cosolapa.

After the murder,

wrote on his website that the prosecution "was investigating whether the crime was linked to his profession as a journalist".

Mexico is considered one of the most dangerous countries for journalists, with over 100 members of the press killed since 2000. Over 90% of these crimes have gone unpunished.

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• Murder

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